The
sooner we learn the lesson that we cannot please everyone the more at
peace we will be in our own skin. If we don’t learn that lesson we
will forever be changing ourselves in order to meet the expectations of
others. No cat will ever catch that tail.

We played the flute for you,But you wouldn’t dance;We sang a dirge,But you wouldn’t weep.

Apparently,
that was a verse of common wisdom that Jesus used to make a comparison.
The same people who were criticizing John the Baptist were
criticizing Jesus. The criticism against John was that he fasted and
led an ascetic lifestyle. The criticism against Jesus is that he ate
and drank. Jesus is saying,

“You
guys are never happy. You don’t like fasting. You don’t like
feasting. We play the flute, you don’t dance. We sing a dirge, you
don’t weep. Your are nothing more than a bunch of whiners. Wisdom is
vindicated by her children. Or in other words, If the shoe fits, wear
it. Truth is as truth does. Am I right or am I right? ”

Jesus
is showing that his critics are simply shallow whiners. They are
ignoring the message of both John the Baptist and Jesus by criticizing
their personal lives. That is an old, old trick that the busybodies
fusspots, tattletales, and scolds never tire of playing.

If
someone is saying something that really matters, fusspots don’t argue
the substance, they attack their personal habits, or personality, or the
way they dress. It doesn’t matter if a prophet comes fasting or
feasting, those who cannot or will not hear the message will find a
reason to disregard the messenger. Jesus here is exposing this
hypocrisy.

We know this is
true. Think of the people who made a difference and were agents of
social or political change. Prophets we might call them. How often
were they criticized for things that had nothing to do with their
message or work. If you can find a way to discredit the messenger,
then we won’t need to hear the message.

Think
of all the criticism Al Gore has received for stuff that has nothing to
do with his message about making us aware of the impact our use of
fossil fuels is having on the climate. Think of former President
Jimmy Carter, who told the truth to the American people about energy in
the 1970s. We didn’t want to hear it. So we found a way to dismiss
him.

Jesus says, “What do
members of this generation remind me of?” The answer? Whiners with
deaf ears who miss the point. Elsewhere Jesus is reported to have wept
over Jerusalem and said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you murder the prophets
and stone those sent to you.”

But
you know, it is no use complaining about that either. If you are going
to be an agent of change, unwarranted criticism and scrutiny are part
of the package. Do the best you can, hold your head high, and never,
never, never, never give up.

Or as a member of my previous congregation liked to tell me when I was feeling discouraged,

“Party on.”

Jesus
was a party animal. That was the conclusion by the Jesus Seminar.
Jesus was not an ascetic. He did not shun the pleasures of life but
embraced them. He ate and he drank and he did it with the wrong crowd:
toll collectors, sinners, and women and men of ill repute.
Historical Jesus scholar Dominic Crossan said Jesus practiced an open
table.

What we see in the sketch of Jesus is a person who approached life with amazement, wonder, and awe.

It is doubtful that he would have ever come up with anything close to resembling a doctrine of original sin.

It is doubtful that he would have ever thought that he needed to die on the cross for the sins of others.

It is doubtful that he thought that humanity was fallen and needed redemption.

It is doubtful that he would have ever thought that we are ultimately spirits or souls trapped in bodies.

All of those doctrines were attributed to Jesus, but I doubt they were part of his own awareness.I
cannot know that for sure. I can only interpret his life from my
perspective. I see in Jesus a person who was in love with life. He
was so much in love with life, that those who could not experience joy
and pleasure despised him. They called him a glutton and a drunkard.
Then they killed him.

This poem by Mary Oliver describes those poor souls. It is called A Bitterness:

I believe you did not have a happy life.I believe you were cheated.I believe your best friends were loneliness and misery,I believe your busiest enemies were anger and depression.I believe joy was a game you could never play without stumbling.I believe comfort, though you craved it, was forever a stranger.I believe music had to be melancholy or not at all.I believe no trinket, no precious metal, shone so bright as your bitterness.I believe you lay down at last in your coffin none the wiser and unassuaged.Oh, cold and dreamless under the wild, amoral, reckless, peaceful flowers of the hillsides.

After
reading that poem I realized that I don’t ever want to be remembered
that way. I felt sorry not angry for those who didn’t see the joy in
the life of Jesus or in the lives of the prophets of grace or in the
lives of those who could experience happiness.

If
there is anything that will save the human species it will be a
recovery of joy, humor, awe, amazement, and pleasure. We will need to
turn to Earth and accept its transience. We cannot cling or hold. We
can only float with it.

We need like a she-bear to scoop out the honey when we find it. This is again, Mary Oliver. This poem is Happiness:

In the afternoon I watchedthe she-bear; she was lookingfor the secret bin of sweetness -honey, that the bees storein the trees’ soft caves.Black block of gloom, she climbed downtree after tree and shuffled onthrough the woods. And thenshe found it! The honey-house deepas heartwood, and dipped into itamong the swarming bees - honey and combshe lipped and tongued and scooped outin her black nails, until

maybe she grew full, or sleepy, or maybea little drunk, and stickydown the rugs of her arms,and began to hum and sway.I saw her let go of the branches,I saw her lift her honeyed muzzleinto the leaves, and her thick arms,as though she would fly -an enormous beeall sweetness and wings -down into the meadows, the perfectionsof honeysuckle and roses and clover -to float and sleep in the sheer netsswaying from flower to flowerday after shining day.

Bitterness or Happiness?

Life is so short.We get one spin on the big wheel.This day will never come again.Neither this moment.Party on, friends.Party on!

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Audio and text of my sermons are now on Southminster's web page. You can also get audio of sermons and podcasts of my radio programs at one place on my Soundcloud site. Podcasts of only my radio shows are on Podomatic. Thank you for listening and reading!